Vintage Find: 1,000-Year-Old Vineyards Discovered in Spain

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Traces of ancient vineyards that date back 1,000 years were
discovered in the terraced fields of a medieval village in Spain,
according to a new archaeological study.

Researchers from the University of the Basque Country found
evidence that fields within the medieval settlement of Zaballa
were once intensely used to
grow grape vines.

"Archaeo-botanical studies of seed remains found in the
excavations and pollen studies have provided material evidence of
the existence of vine cultivation in a relatively early period
like the 10th century," study author Juan Antonio Quirós-Castillo
said in a statement. [ In
Photos: Archaeology Around the World ]

The researchers' examination of the fields, which are still
visible in the landscape, suggests they were more agriculturally
suited to growing vines, rather than
cereal crops, he added. The archaeologists also unearthed
metal tools that were likely used to maintain the ancient
vineyards.

The village of Zaballa was abandoned in the 15th century, largely
after local lords operating under a newly created rent-seeking
system drove out many of the town's settlers. Zaballa is one of
more than 300 deserted settlements collectively known as
Araba-Alava. Today, archaeologists from the University of the
Basque Country are trying to reconstruct the region's rural
heritage by combing the remains of these deserted settlements.

"The important thing is not just their number, but that in the
decade that we have been working on this project, extensive work
has been done on nearly half a dozen of them, and work at other
levels has been done on nearly a hundred," Quirós-Castillo said.

As such, the researchers are compiling some of the most important
archaeological records of
medieval history throughout northern Spain, he said. "In
other words, to see how the peasant community itself gradually
adapts to the political and economic changes that take place in
the medieval context in which these places are located," he
added.

Quirós-Castillo and his colleagues also studied another abandoned
settlement in Araba-Alava called Zornotegi. They discovered that
the terraced fields in this village were devoted to cultivating
cereals and grains.

"Zornotegi has a completely different history," Quirós-Castillo
said. "Even though it was founded at more or less the same time,
it is a much more egalitarian social community in which such
significant social differences are not observed, and nor is the
action of manorial powers which, in some way, undermined the
balance of the community."

"The space for traditional crops, still easily recognizable in
the landscapes closest to us, are historical spaces brimming with
explanatory significance to help us understand the societies of
the past; indeed, they require attention which they have not had
until now," Quirós-Castillo said.

The discoveries were reported in a special issue of the journal
Quaternary International.